Texas GOP House members show approval of new Obamacare attack

As Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, told the House GOP caucus that he favored adding a one-year delay of Obamacare and a repeal of the program’s medical-device tax to the continuing budget resolution before the House, Texas lawmakers enthusiastically endorsed the plan.

The House was expected to vote on the measure later tonight, and the leadership expected a unanimous GOP vote.

Some Republicans seemed unworried that the move would likely lead to a government shutdown.

In fact, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, later issued a statement saying that “If the President or Senate Democrats force a shutdown of the government, I want to make sure our military men and women are paid. Under a government shutdown, the President is granted unlimited power to determine which federal workers get paid and which don’t. I don’t want to give him more power because, unfortunately, I just don’t trust him with the power he already has.”

Nevertheless, some Republicans, particularly outside the House, were expecting the GOP would take the lion’s share of the blame over a shutdown.

Asked about this, Brady responded, “There is plenty of time for the Senate to act, especially since paying our troops, repealing the medical device tax and delaying Obamacare all have bipartisan support in Congress and support from the American people. Why would (Senate Majority) leader Harry Reid or anyone else shut down the government over this?”

Indeed, the Senate apparently was making plans to come back Sunday to take out the Obamacare language again and toss it back to the House before the Oct. 1 shutdown deadline. But Senate procedural rules could make that difficult.